


Stealth

by listentotheink



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-24
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-06 07:08:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/732835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/listentotheink/pseuds/listentotheink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Louis are spies. Highly trained, and highly dangerous, they've been working for Stealth Operations for five years, and dating for three. They've been keeping it a secret, even though nearly everyone in the office can read the subtext, and they work really hard to be the best team in the business. Which they are.</p><p>They're also at the bottom of the food chain. The only thing they've got going for them is seniority. They get the worst cases, and all of their training goes to waist when Harry isn't hacking into Louis' computer, or Louis isn't sneaking around the local Tesco for as long as he can. </p><p>Until Liam Payne, head of Stealth, comes to them with the most important case of their careers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue:

"Wait one second." Harry said to the empty van. His green eyes were glowing, reflecting his laptop screen as he typed away furiously. He pressed the enter key, and minimized one window, revealing another, split into four, that was displaying the same exact images as four monitors lined up across the interior of the escalade.

"Okay, you should be clear." Harry said, again to no one. His eyes flicked up to watch the four monitors on the wall, as a little figure dressed in a suit, made his way across one of the screens on Harry's laptop. "You're all set, Boo. Get in and get out. My wifi might not hold long."

"Copy that, Babycakes." A voice said into his ear. Harry shook his head, letting his eyes wander between the security footage being displayed on the monitors and what was actually happening on his laptop. Hopefully the former was what was on display in the security room of the office building they were breaking into.

"You've got your lock pick, right?" Harry asked, watching as Louis crept down the hallway towards the CEO's office.

"Should be in my pocket." Louis muttered into Harry's ear. "If not, I'll figure it out."

"You need to start double checking your suits, Louis." Harry said, checking the monitors again.

"Hey. I'm the spy." Louis said quietly as Harry watched him dig around his pockets before finding the small pin he needed. "You're the handler. You're supposed to make sure everything is ready."

"On the tech side." Harry said, watching Louis walk into the office.

"Maybe if you didn't have me bent over your desk for a good two hours last night, I would have been able to make sure everything is good."

"You needed and enjoyed that as much as I did." Harry said, flushing scarlet as Louis began to dig around the desk drawer.

"I'll never admit it." Louis said. "Now hush, I'm focusing."

"They don't pay me enough to deal with you." Harry said with a fond smile.

"They don't pay us enough in general." Louis said. "Christ! This guy must just sit and wank all day. You should see the playboys he's got in here!"

“Focus, Louis.”

“What am I looking for, again?”

“It’s like a money tube, I guess.” Harry said, reaching for a manilla folder and flipping it open. He shuffled through the pages quickly. “It’s orange and the cap screws off.”

“Do we know what’s in it?"

"It looks like some sort of code." Harry said, looking at another photograph in the file. "But it's only speculated. They aren't really sure."

"Glad to know the office is doing their jobs up to standard. If it was us-"

"Louis."

"Sorry, sorry." Louis said, crouching down and struggling with a drawer. "Bingo, Babycakes."

"Have you got something?"

"Drawer is locked." Louis said, stuffing his hand into his pocket. "Fuck! My lock pick broke!"

"That's the seventh one this month!" Harry said, glancing back up at the screens again. Still blank. Harry smiles. Maybe they would get out of this without any technical hitches.

"I'm going to cut the lock."

He snapped back to attention.

"We're supposed to get out of this without a sign of forced entry!"

"Well what do you suggest, Mr. Technology?"

"A paper clip, idiot!"

"Your endearments astound me." Louis said, and Harry knew he was rolling his eyes. But he was also rifling through he center drawer of the desk.

"Your arse astounds me." Harry mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Then, a loud static began to sound around the van and Harry looked up at his monitors. When he saw that they were fuzzy, his hands began to shake and he realized his laptop was duplicating the images.

"Louis, you've got to get out of there." He said, his voice calmer than he felt. "You've got to get out of there now."

"Can I have five seconds to look around the drawer?"

"I lost my feed." Harry said. "Make it quick. I'll meet you with the car under the window. You've got your repelling gear, yeah?"

"Thanks to you."

"Alright, Lou. Hurry."

"Can you keep contact with me?"

"Like I would leave you alone."

"Good, because I found what we're looking for, so hurry up."

Harry navigated to the drivers seat as fast as he could, and pulled out and around the building just as Louis was climbing out the window.

"Christ, I was already sore."

"Just come on, Lou." Harry said, starting to chew on his thumbnail. "We've got to get out of here!"

"It takes more than two seconds to repel down a building, Harry."

"I'm sorry I don't want to get arrested!" He was gripping the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles were turning white.

"Calm down Curly! I'm nearly there. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

"Bet you'd love to see that."

"Amongst other things."

"Louis!"

"Start driving, I'm nearly there. I'll do a Mission Impossible dive into the front seat!"

"You already said you're nearly here!" Harry said, still in park.

"Well unlock the fucking door so I can get in, then!"

Harry looked up at the passenger side window to see Louis standing there waiting, slightly impatiently, for Harry to let him in. Harry sighed in relief and Louis jumped in, brandishing a bright orange tube. He smiled brightly.

"All in a days work, yeah?"

 


	2. One:

The elevator doors opened with a quiet ding, and Louis and Harry stepped out onto their floor, equally as quiet. They greeted the secretary of their department, Danielle, with simultaneous nods, and made their way to the sound proof door of their office.

Not even the secretaries were allowed to know anything.

This morning, Harry was feeling rather chipper, so he threw in a "morning, Dani." To the caramel skinned woman, but Louis stuck with his usual curt nod before they stepped through the door and into the controlled chaos of their office.

A wad of paper flew at Harry's head as Ed, a ginger haired intern, zoomed past them on a mail cart being chased by Nick. Nick paused for a minute to wave at Harry, and Louis glanced at him before ducking into the break room just as a pen flew at his head. Harry laughed and threw the pen back in the direction it came from, watching as it hit the back if Zayn's quiff. When he saw the impact, he darted into the break room just as he heard Zayn yell "who threw that?!"

"Coffee, babe?" Harry asked, pouring himself a cup and adding two sugars.

"Tea." Louis replied. "Yorkshire. You know I can't stand coffee. Dunno how you drink it, honestly."

Harry shrugged. "Keeps me awake, at least."

Louis shook his head. "Yeah, by filling you with caffeine and shit. Tea has natural herbs that do the same thing."

"Your knowledge of herbs and water is amazing." Harry said with a smile. "It's one of the quali-teas that I love about you."

"Harry, that was your worst one yet."

"It wasn't that bad! Quality like quali-tea. Yeah?"

"Just stop before you hurt yourself." Louis said as Harry adjusted his laptop case on his shoulder.

"Like you could do any better!"

Louis took a sip of his tea. "Probably not. Puns are a real Grey area for me."

Harry just stared at him.

"That was worse than mine!"

"Was not!"

"It was and you know it!" Harry said, holding the door open so Louis could leave and not spill any of his carefully mixed-with-love tea down the front of his suit. Harry smiles pleasantly at everyone who walked by, unlike Louis, who gave curt nods at anyone who said hello to them, focusing on his tea.

Zayn and Niall were arguing about something (again), Cher and Pix were going through case files, Rita and Cara looked to be pinning head shots of people relevant to their case on a board with all the information they had on it. And Nick was still chasing Ed as he wheeled around on the mail cart, screaming "One Way or Another" at the top of his voice.

"Interns." Louis said, shouldering the door to their shared office open. It snapped shut behind Harry, and Louis threw his suit jacket on the rack he had bought about a month or so before. "You're lucky you're a handler." Louis said, gesturing to Harry's jeans and t-shirt.

"Yeah, I like the whole casual thing." Harry said, sitting at the chair across from Louis desk. "But you get a desk, I don't get shit."

"You get me." Louis said with a smile, turning to the glass window that looked out at their coworkers, just as Ed crashed the mail cart and papers flew everywhere. Niall fell off his desk laughing, and Rita rushed over to help Ed up. "You'd never know that we're one of, if not the best, spy organizations in the world with the interns Liam's got."

"Hey, most of them are pretty cool." Harry said, opening his bag and taking his MacBook out. "I really like Ed and Nick. And that Aiden guy, he's alright."

"You get on with everyone, though." Louis said with a sigh.

"Not true. The secretary, Danielle. I think she hates me."

"She's completely hot for you."

"No, she's not." Harry said, checking his email quickly. "She pretty much hates me. Won't even say hello to me. I think she likes Liam?"

Louis sat down at his desk and kicked up his feet.

"Speaking of Liam." Louis said with a smirk.

"Oh god. Are we really going to continue this?! He's our boss, Lou!"

"And these walls are sound proof." Louis replied with a shrug. "That's the one advantage of being here as long a we have. Seniority. We get the office. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Liam and Zayn."

He took a sip of his tea with a smug smile.

"No way." Harry said, shaking his head. "Liam and Niall, maybe. But Liam and Zayn? Really, Louis?"

"What? It's possible." Louis said, playing with a pen as Harry clicked to his hacking program. He'd written it himself back in uni. "What if they're in some weird threesome or some shit?"

"What? No. I don't think Liam would go for that."

"You're pretty kinky when you want to be. I wouldn't have thought that when I met you."

"How do we even know Liam is gay? He doesn't exactly fit the bill."

"Well, neither do you, Babycakes."

Harry rolled his eyes and navigated to Louis' IP address through the wifi connection, and started to click into the files there, moving the and renaming them, just for the hell of it.

"If you're hacking my computer again, Harry, I swear to god."

"What are you going to do? Tie me up?" Harry said, smirking as he moved more files around. He had to stay sharp with his hacking somehow.

"No, you enjoy that too much."

"You like dominating and it's hot as hell, so yeah. I fucking love being tied up."

Louis smirked. "I'll keep that in mind."

Harry shook his head with a chuckle just as a knock sounded on the door and Liam poked his head in.

"My office, five minutes."

And then he was gone and Louis an Harry were left to send confused looks at each other.

 

The thing about Liam's office was, that it wasn't really an office. It was the entire sixth  
floor of the building. His secretary had her own little alcove with a soda machine and a water cooler, and there was a wooden door with a brass plate on it that read "Liam Payne: President." Louis and Harry had only been there once before, and it was when they had been given their certification badges. After that, case files had been set on their desks, and they had been briefed by others in their department. So this.. This was big.

"Maybe we're being promoted?" Louis wondered aloud. Harry shushed him. "What? Last time we were here, we got our badges."

"Just don't be an idiot in there, please." Harry said. "I don't want to get in trouble."

"When have I ever gotten you into trouble?" Louis said with a smirk and a wink as he knocked on the door. There was a faint 'come in' and Louis pranced inside.

"Ah." Liam said, standing and gesturing to a small table with four chairs to the left of the door. "Have a seat, lads."

Harry and Louis sat down as Liam walked over to them, carrying two manilla case files and a clicker for the projector that hung from the ceiling.

"We have a case for the both of you." Liam said, stepping to the side of the table across from them. He set the case files down just out of their reach.

"You called us here for a case assignment?" Louis asked. "This must be big. Usually Rita or someone briefs us."

"This is a top secret mission." Liam said. "Absolutely no one but the team I assign and myself are to know anything about it."

Harry and Louis glanced at each other, a nervous excitement filling them both.  
Liam powered on the projector and a face appeared. The man the face belonged to was older, and looked Italian. He had a thick nose and salt and pepper hair, and was wearing a satisfied smirk on his face, looking just to the left of the camera.

"This is Caelyn Ambach, lads." Liam said, walking to the side of the table so Louis an Harry could get a clearer look. "He has top secret government information on nearly every country in NATO, and the UN that he's been collecting over the past twenty years. We had him in custody, but he escaped early last year, and was last confirmed to be in America. The CIA has been trying to capture him without any luck, and I guess they thought a British spy team would have a better chance at catching a British criminal."

"That makes absolutely no logical sense." Harry said.

"Well, since when have Americans been logical?" Liam asked. "They put a cheeseburger between two donuts."

"That's disgusting." Louis said. "Not to mention completely unhealthy."

"I've heard they deep fry butter." Harry said, trying not to gag. That we the most horrid thing he had ever heard.

"Your job." Liam said, calling their attention back to him. "Is to collect the information and get your asses back here as fast as possible. Without the information, he isn't a threat."

"How exactly are we supposed to do that from here?" Louis asked. "We're good, but not that good."

"We're relocating you both to New York City." Liam said, sliding them each a manilla folder. Harry grabbed his and started rifling through the pages. "Effective immediately." Liam continued.

"You're going undercover. Not that this is anything new for either of you. But everything is arranged. Your flat is payed for, and is on the water in Jersey City, New Jersey. Four miles away from Manhattan. Harry, your tuition and books are being paid for by the British government. And Louis we've got you a job --"

"Wait, wait, wait." Harry said, flipping a page in his folder. "Books? Tuition? What? I'm not going back to uni. I've already got a degree."

"You'll be doing what it takes to get the job done. You're going to be attending New York University as a graduate student. You're a photography major, and enrolled in seven courses. That's all explained in the character bio section of your case files."

"What's this about a job?" Louis asked, eyeing Liam over his own folder.

"We've got you a spot at Superdry retailers. It's right across from the Tisch School of Art, where Harry will be studying. We've got you on matching schedules so you'll have an hour for lunch with each other every day except Mondays. You'll be able to use that time to work out details, and what you do with the rest of your free time is up to you. Do not skip classes unless necessary. Do not call out if work unless necessary. Do not draw attention to yourselves."

"Retail, sir? Really?! I can barely deal with you on a good day! How do you expect me to deal with the general population. Of America, no less!"

"You'll do what it takes, Louis."

Louis rolled his eyes and Harry kicked him under the table.

"Fine. But what if we don't catch the guy? Then what? Do we stay there forever?"

"If you don't catch him, we will send in a team that's more capable. But I've seen you both at work and there is no doubt in my mind that you are more than capable of taking him down."

"When exactly are we leaving?" Harry asked.

"Six hours. That gives you four hours to pack and an additional two to be at the government hangar at Heathrow. So I suggest you get out of my office, and don't fuck it up."

Harry and Louis nodded, leaving the office in as professional of a manner as possible, given the circumstances. But once they got in the elevator, Louis jumped on Harry, attacking him with kisses, and wrapping his legs around Harry's waist.

"We just got our first big case, Babycakes!"

Harry was still in a daze.

"Yeah, we did, didn't we?"


	3. Two

[Harry's ID Photo](http://24.media.tumblr.com/f749f65bdd6f5bab1f9de729fb13b896/tumblr_mkugi4mSKZ1qbgh8mo2_500.jpg), [Louis' ID Photo](http://25.media.tumblr.com/7fd6fd2a8b8efe3b188016b44f0807ce/tumblr_mkugi4mSKZ1qbgh8mo1_500.jpg)

 

Between the two of them, they had eight bags. So Harry was definitely happy they were taking a private jet so they didn’t have to pay baggage. It wasn’t really expensive, but it was twenty quid that Harry would rather have them in his pocket then going to an airline that was already richer than he would ever be.

They arrived at the hangar in two hours. In their excitement, they had managed to pack everything they would need (including Harry’s two desktop computers, laptop, and his DSLR) in less than the time Liam had offered them. And Louis had only complained about his dress shirts needing to be folded once. He had ceased complaining when Harry had pressed a kiss to his lips and promised that if it was really that big of a problem, he would iron them straight away.

Only when they were sure they had everything did they depart, and Harry wasn’t surprised at how shocked Liam was to see them there strutting into the hangar with their bags four hours early.

“Well you certainly are surprising.” Liam said, meeting them at the gate when they passed through security without a hitch. Harry explained that the bag with all of his computers in it needed to be handled with extreme caution, and then he turned to the older man.

“We don’t disappoint.” Louis said, a smirk tugging at his lips. Harry joined them soon after, stuffing his hand into the pocket of his jeans awkwardly.

“Clearly.” Liam said, reaching into his bag and pulling out two more files.

“More paperwork?” Louis asked with a groan. Liam nodded.

“Harry, make sure you keep track of these.” Liam said, handing both files to the taller boy.

Louis looked appalled.

“You don’t have the best track record, Louis.” Harry said with a shrug.

“Can’t deny that. But I would think that you’d put a bit more trust in me, Liam.”

Liam shook his head. “Not with official documents. In the folders we’ve got everything you’ll need. We’ve got your passports, visas, driver’s licences, bank accounts, everything is under your identities. Harry, you’re the file with Kayden Devendorf, Louis you’re the file with Adam Robinson. If they try to cross check anything, it’ll connect back to Stealth’s databases. You’ve got all records needed there.” He took two iPhone fives out of his pocket. “These are the phones for your case. Any needed contacts are to be added here. They have 845 area codes so you won’t be charged with any fees. We’ve also got credit cards for each of you in the files. Make sure you sign the back of them as your alias. Do not use them for anything unrelated to the case.”

“So, no fun at the bars, then.” Louis said with a sigh.

“Not with your cards, no.” Liam said, shaking his head. “The government has put one hundred thousand American dollars into an account for your use. Try to use cash only. Then if anyone gets suspicious, you’ll be just about untraceable.”

Harry nodded, and took his wallet out of his pocket. He cleared out his credit cards and his license, handing them over to Liam for safe keeping. Louis did the same, and then Harry handed him his file so he could get his ID and credit card.

“Oh, come on!” Louis said, studying his license. “Did you have to use a picture where I look like a complete tosser? Look at my hair!”

“We used the only pictures we have of you in the system.” Liam said evenly. “They’re the same ones that are on your Stealth IDs.”

“But I look like a bloody wanker!”

Harry sighed and looked over at the picture Louis was so adamant to hate. It was clearly from when they had just begun working there. His hair wasn’t in it’s usual, neat quiff that Louis had spent days perfecting. Rather, it was a mop of fringe, and he was wearing a bright smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. But Harry knew that it was because Louis hated pictures and was nervous for what lay ahead of them.”

“You look like you’re about to shit yourself.” Harry said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

“Let’s see yours, then!” Louis replied.

Harry shrugged, holding his out to Louis. He remembered that day, only because Louis had taken the piss as he had tried to tame his mop of curls to no avail. “It’s not sixth form picture day!” he had said, ruffling Harry’s curls just as Harry had finally managed to tame them. “It’s  just a bloody picture for work!” Harry just shook his head. Louis knew how much he hated pictures, and that when they were needed, Harry needed to look nice.

“See?! You look good in your picture.” Louis said, handing the piece of plastic back to Harry.

“Because I made an effort.” Harry said. “You rolled out of bed and proceeded to take the piss.”

“Alright.” Liam said. “Important matters now, please.”

“Sorry.” Harry said, stuffing his wallet back into his pocket. Louis stuffed his hands into the pockets of his joggers and waited patiently for Liam to continue.

“At customs and immigration they’re going to ask you your purpose for travelling to the United States. Make sure you know your stories. Names?”

“Adam Robinson.” Louis said.

“Kayden Devendorf.” Harry replied.

“Well, Adam and Kayden.” Liam said, holding his hand out. “Good luck.”

“Will you be leaving right after we get on the plane?” Harry said, shaking Liam’s hand and tugging his beanie farther down over his curls.

“No. I’ve got another team to see off.” Liam said. “Don’t forget: get the information and get back here. If anything goes wrong, contact HQ.”

****

“Adam Robinson.” Louis said, sipping a bottle of water. “Sounds boring to me. He’s a drop out and wants to make it on Broadway. Actually, no. He got thrown out of Uni for excessive drinking.”

“Sounds like someone I know.” Harry said with a small smile.

“Just because I like alcohol.” Louis muttered.

“And singing show tunes. And watching musicals. And criticizing every choice the director makes including but not limited to casting, costume, scenery, etcetera. And being overdramatic. And dressing quite campy when we aren’t at work. Christ, it’s a wonder more people don’t think you’re a bender.”

“Well. Since I’m bent, I guess I can’t really object to anything you just said.” Louis said with a shrug. “Ooh! Look! I’m a Bradford boy, like Zayn!”

“I am too.” Harry said with a yawn. He was the worst when it came to staying awake on airplanes. “We were mates, apparently. Dunno why. Probably wouldn’t hang out with you if I wasn’t forced to.”

“Rude.”

“Honest.”

“Well, it that’s how you really feel.” Louis said with a playful smile. “I guess I’ll just have to find someone else.”

“You won’t find a better lover than me, babe.”

“Cheeky.”

“Confident.”

“Arrogant.”

“Liar.”

“Truther.”

“That’s not even a word.”

“It is, now.”

“I’ll be sure to add it to the International Dictionary of Louis Tomlinson when we land, then.” Harry said, rolling his eyes.

“Good.”

Harry smiled, flipping a page in his file and then glancing at a cardboard box labeled “Case: Harry and Louis.”

“We’re going to have to do something about the title of this case, babe.” Harry said with a smile, pointing at the box. “It hasn’t even got a proper name.”

****

They landed at JFK at seven that night, and it went without saying that they were both exhausted beyond belief and were going to need a lot of time to catch up on sleep. Just that morning they were in the office for a normal day, and then they turned around and were in New York City working a case. A giant case. The biggest of their careers. And their boss had told them, basically, that they’re fucking awesome and he had confidence in them. That was a bunch of information and things to take in. So when Louis leaned against Harry, a little heavily in the car on their way to New Jersey, he didn’t mind. And when Louis snapped at him ever so slightly as they brought their bags into their new flat, he didn’t mind. And when they were eating cheap pizza from a five minutes joint down the street, he didn’t mind. Even when Louis was complaining about the amount of grease and how it was like eating a heart attack, he doesn’t mind. He’s content and satisfied and it just felt nice to be there doing his job with his boyfriend in a new, unfamiliar place. And right then it just felt like an adventure.

Maybe that was Harry just being a child, or maybe it was sort of like a tourist thing. But in that moment, with louis complaining and Coldplay blaring as they figured out how they wanted to set up their workspace, everything just felt different.

So, when they left their bags open on the floor of the living room, their things spewing out of them, and collapsed into their unclothed bed, Harry pulled Louis into a cuddle. He pressed gentle kisses from his temple, down around his jaw and watched as Louis’ eyes closed. He whispered plans for the morning, and Louis nuzzled into his chest, falling asleep quickly, and Harry just watched for a while. He knew that the next few months weren’t going to be easy. But he knew that it would be worth it. Knew that the older boy was going to be right by his side for the whole thing.

And for now, that’ll do.

 


	4. Three

“Jesus Christ, Louis.” Harry said to himself as he walked along the aisles of a local supermarket. “This shit is cute when you do it at home. But right now, it’s fucking not.”

He and Louis had been out all morning, buying things for the flat that they didn’t know they were going to need until they got there. But it didn’t matter because they had credit cards, and plenty of cash to back up their purchases. So they probably spent nearly two thousand dollars so far, and when it came to everything they had in the cart (because Louis had a fucking organic food fetish) it was probably going to be another six or seven hundred dollars before they finally returned home.

But for now, Harry was too busy trying to figure out where his absolute twat of a boyfriend was.

He had been playing this game all day. This game of hide and seek and “get as close to Harry as you possibly can without him suspecting anything before running and finding a new place to hide again.” Harry should have seen it coming, really. Why would things change just because they had come to America? How hadn’t he noticed the sparkle in Louis’ eyes when they had walked into the shop that was just the same as all the other shops they had gone into? The first time he disappeared, hey were in a Bed, Bath and Beyond in a little strip mall just outside of Newark. He had vanished for the better part of an hour, leaving Harry to make all the decisions about what was going into the flat.  Then he was being tackled to the ground and Louis had whispered “That’s for hacking my laptop, Curly” into his ear before disappearing again.

The second time was at a Starbucks. Harry had never actually realized how many hiding places there were inside a Starbucks, but somehow Louis had managed to climb up, into the ventilation system, without being seen, crawl his way to the back room and lower himself down into the refrigerator. Someone had gone into the back room and screamed, and then Louis was running out, laughing, and grabbing Harry’s hand to drag him out of the building and down the block.

And now they were in a grocery and Louis could literally be anywhere.

That was the reason Louis was the spy, and Harry was the handler.

“I’m just going to pay and leave. Teach him for disappearing on me.” Harry muttered, throwing a box of couscous into his already overflowing cart.  “He’ll have to find his own way home. I won’t even look for him and that serves him right, bloody twat.”

He threw a box of spaghetti into the cart as he rounded the corner into the “personal hygiene” aisle. He hadn’t even thought about hair care or bath supplies. Also, his cart was literally spilling with things, and he wasn’t even halfway through the store yet. So, he had two options. One, he could go find another cart and pay a cashier to watch the full cart. Or two, he could continue on his way and hope nothing fell and caused a disaster. But, if he could just find Louis this wouldn’t be an issue.

He looked around, hoping that Louis’ quiff would just materialize out of thin air. But when he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he sighed and started to make his way to the registers to pay off a cashier.

“Psst! Curly!”

Harry’s head snapped to his right, towards the shelves full of condom boxes. But that was odd. Surely Louis couldn’t be ON the shelf.

“Harry! Right here!”

Harry then realized that the voice was coming from slightly below his eye level, and he crouched down to look closer, only to be met with a pair of clear, blue eyes, sparkling with mischief. Meaning that, not only was Louis on the shelf, but he had managed to climb behind the boxes of condoms.

“How the fuck did you manage this?” Harry said with a grin. That’s how it worked with them. When Louis would disappear, Harry would be frustrated until he found him, and then he would just be amused. Accept for the time he showed up at the flat with a police escort because he had locked himself in the local Tesco’s after they closed. That wasn’t funny. Not even in the slightest.

No matter how much they laughed after the door was shut and the police left.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Louis said with a wink, and then he swiped his arm forward, sending boxes of condoms cascading into the cart. “Thought we would need more.”

Harry shook his head and smiled.

“Come on. I need your help, wanker."

****

“Okay.” Harry said, taking out a black marker and uncapping it. “We need to break this down.”

Louis nodded, stuffing a fork full of pasta into his mouth.

“Start with what we know.” He said, chewing and taking a sip of beer as Harry wrote the words “What We Know” onto a blank stretch of wall in their living room. “Bullet points. Like all the other cases we’ve worked.”

“List them to me. I’ll write them down.” Harry said. Louis nodded and grabbed the file.

“He’s British.” He began. “His name is Caelyn Ambach... You’ve already written that... He’s got ties with NATO and the UN, and he’s based in Manhattan right now.”

“That’s it?” Harry said, pinning an eight by ten of Caelyn up onto the wall.

“Well, he looks like that.” Louis said with a nod.

“So we know next to nothing.”

“Correct.”

“Fuck.”

“We’ll get it sorted, babe. Honest. We always do. It’ll be fine.”

“I have a feeling this isn’t going to be easy.” Harry said  collapsing into a chair and flipping on the telly, letting Keeping Up With the Kardashians play on a low volume. Louis crawled up into his lap.

“Liamput about ten different tapes full of interviews and information in that box.” He said, kissing Harry’s forehead, then his nose, then his lips. “We can start in the morning, watch all the interviews and go from there. Liam wouldn’t have assigned us to the case if he didn’t think we couldn’t do it.”

Harry shook his head. “We can’t start tomorrow. You and I have other things to do in the morning. You have work and I have classes, plus I need to set up my computers, and get some things for school.”

“I forgot you’re a big Uni boy, now.”

“At least I don’t have to work retail.” Harry replied.

“I have a good taste in fashion!”

“Yeah. Super campy.”

“Hey. Don’t forget you’re just as camp as me.” Louis shot back. “You can’t make a jibe at my sexuality when you’re the same.”

“There is no way in hell I’m as camp as you.”

“Oh, you are.”

“Liar.”

“Truther.”

“Still not a word!”

“It’s a word!”

“No.” Harry said, shaking his head. “You can’t just make a word. There’s a process.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.” Harry said. “It all depends on usage in text. It has to be cited enough times. Five to seven, I think. And then it gets put on a card for consideration with a citation and a use in context.”

“Why am I dating you, again?”

“My curls.” Harry said with a cheeky smile. “And my extensive knowledge of completely useless information.”

“How did you even know that, anyway?”

“Read about it in lower six.” Harry said with a shrug.

“And you remembered it?”

“I remember a lot of things, Lou.”

“Do you?”

Harry nodded. “Of course I do.”

“Tell me something else you know, then.”

“The sun is eventually going to burn out.”

“That’s nice.”

“You asked.”

Louis sighed. “Would you rather watch an interview and try to take some notes, or do you want to wait until tomorrow night?”

“We could start one, if you like.”

Louis nodded. “How about we start one and then at half past we’ll stop and start getting things ready for tomorrow.”

Harry nodded. “I’ll take the notes.”

“Is that a jab at the legibility of my handwriting?”

“Always.”

****

“Please state your name and Occupation.” an off camera voice said. Harry watched intently as the older man sat, on screen, fidgeting with his hands. For some reason, Harry loved watching interviews. He loved watching people nervously twitch and he liked trying to sort out when people were lying. Body language had always interested him.

“My name is Robert Grimshaw.” The man said, itching his nose. His eyes darted around the room rapidly from under his square rimmed glasses. “I’m a British Ambassador in Berlin, Germany.”

“And you do know why you’re here, correct?” the voice said.

“I’m here under false accusations.” Grimshaw said bitterly. “You think I’ve given Caelyn Ambach information. But I haven’t. I dunno who he is or what he even looks like. How can I give information to someone I don’t even know?”

“Tell us, do you have any... habits?”

“Habits? I don’t follow.”

“You know. Habits. Little things. Talking to yourself, talking in your sleep? Writing while on the job or a conference... you know. Habits.”

“Of course I take notes at a conference! Why do you think I’m so good at my job?”

“You were at a meeting in New York City a few months ago.” The interviewer said, ignoring the question. “You were seen entering your hotel with a brown leather briefcase and a suitcase.”

“You’ve been spying on me?!”

“It’s a matter of National Security.”

Louis was dozing off on Harry’s shoulder, but Harry was more awake than he had been all day. He was hanging onto every word being said, scribbling it all down into a notebook. They hadn’t been given written transcripts, which was a bit stupid, but he would have to make due.

“Tell us, sir.” the voice said. “Did you see anyone while you were in the city?”

Robert Grimshaw shook his head frantically, itching his nose and twisting his hands together.

“He’s lying.” Harry muttered, scribbling down a few words in his notebook.

“Hmm?” Louis mumbled, sleepily.

“The guy. He’s lying.”

“Ohhhhhh. Okay.”

“Are you sure you hadn’t seen anyone? Because I think you’re lying to us. And lying in an interrogation isn’t a good thing. Especially when you’re being interrogated because we have intelligence saying you gave out government information.”

Robert Grimshaw still shook his head.

“Alright. Let’s try a different approach.”

Robert Grimshaw locked his eyes onto the table.

“When you packed for your return to Berlin, was anything missing? A notebook, perhaps?”

Robert Grimshaw’s eyes widened.

“I think it’s time you come clean, Mr. Grimshaw.”

“Belle.” He muttered.

“Belle?” Harry asked.

“Belle?” The interviewer said.

“Yeah.” Grimshaw said with a gulp. “Belle.”

 


	5. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long!

The next morning didn’t go as smoothly as Harry had hoped it would. They had both of their alarms set for nine, but ended up pressing the snooze button four times. By the time they woke up at nine forty, they knew they were going to have to share a shower. And whenever they shared a shower things got out of hand, and Harry had Louis up against the wall, coming undone before they had even washed their hair. So that brought them to nearly ten thirty, and they only got out of the shower at that point because the water had run cold.

Then came the daunting challenge of getting dressed up to be comparable to Uni students. They rarely went casual, and when they did, it was joggers and a t-shirt or something similar. They didn’t go out much on days off, since being home was such a rarity that they just lazed about all day.

So, Louis was naturally panicking while Harry was busy trying to look like he hadn’t tried at all.

“Fuck it, I’m wearing trackies.” Louis said with a groan, collapsing onto their bed. It had blankets now, at least.

“What you have on now is fine.” Harry said, pulling a navy blue beanie down over his curls and buttoning up his grey shirt.

“I’m wearing a towel, Harry.”

“Like I said, that’s fine.” Harry said, pulling on a blue zip up hoodie. He turned around then, only to see Louis laying on their bed, covering his face with his hands. Harry sighed, and then began to dig through Louis’ side of the closet.

“Are you going to quiff your hair, or fringe it?” Harry asked.

“I was thinking -- fuck you.” Louis said as his eyes travelled over Harry’s body. “How the fuck are you able to do that?”

“Do what?” Harry asked. “Dress myself?”

“Yeah. I’m the camp one. Not you!” Louis said. “You literally make me look like shit every time we go out somewhere.”

“Don’t be so negative.” Harry said. “You’re beautiful. Now. Fringe or quiff?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because! There are things that I can’t see you wearing with your hair quiffed, and things that I can’t see you wearing with it fringed.”

“I don’t have time to quiff it, now. It’s nearly eleven. We don’t know where we’re going, and this is already a fucking nightmare!”

“Remember that whole ‘over dramatic’ thing?” Harry asked. Louis nodded. “You’re doing it again.”

“I’m just nervous.” Louis said as Harry threw him a pair of turquoise colored trousers and a cream jumper.

“I know, babe.” Harry said, walking over to Louis and sitting on the edge of the bed next to him as Louis pulled his trousers on. “I am too. This is a serious case. And I have to go back to Uni. And you have to have a job... but it’s all going to be fine. Really, love. It’ll be fine.”

“I still think you’re a little shit.” Louis muttered, pressing a kiss to Harry’s forehead.

“But I’m your little shit, Loubear.” Harry said with a smile. “Now come on! I bought poptarts!”

“Brown cinnamon sugar?” Louis asked. Harry nodded. “That’s not fair! You know those are my weakness!”

“We have like, ten minutes before we have to leave, or else I would make you a quick egg on toast. Tomorrow morning. I promise.”

“You’re going to kill me, Harry.”

“Not if you kill me first.”

****

“So, Belle.” Loui said, walking next to Harry, letting the back of his hand brush against Harry’s gently.

“What about her?” Harry asked, turning down Broadway and looking down the street. Students were roaming up and down, talking and laughing as they reunited with old friends. The summer holidays were over, and that meant that most of them had a lot of catching up to do.

“What do we know about her?” Louis said. “I mean, right now, we only know her name is Belle, right? But I think she’s important and --”

Harry had stopped walking as Louis talked. He had felt nervousness bubble up into his stomach. Normally he would have been okay, because Louis usually went with him wherever he went. But this time he was going by himself, and there weren’t going to be any familiar faces. In that way, Harry had a simple form of social anxiety, he supposed. He was a person who wouldn’t go anywhere without anyone he knew, and he always sat in a corner alone. He thought that if people wanted to talk to him, they would come talk to him. He didn’t like going up to people.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Louis asked, stepping in front of Harry and pulling him close by the lapels of his jacket.

“Nervous.” Harry said, looking down at his feet, hiding his eyes. He was twenty five years old for Christ’s sake. He had already been to Uni, and he had a degree in computer science. He shouldn’t have been nervous for something he had already done. But he was. “I don’t know anyone here, Lou. What if they don’t like me?”

“Who doesn’t like you, babe?” Louis said with a smile, lifting Harry’s chin with his index finger. “You’re fit as fuck, tell stupid jokes that are funny because of how horrible they are, and are on a whole nother level of charming. Christ, all you have to do is smile and people become putty in your hands. Just be yourself and don’t worry about anything. I’ll see you when I get home tonight, okay?”

Louis pressed a chaste kiss to Harry’s lips.

“Have a good day.”

And then he was gone, darting around taxicabs that would surely kill him as he crossed the street and disappeared into Superdry.

And Harry was left alone, shouldering his rucksack and making his way into the Tisch School of Art for his first class: Photography and the World. According to the syllabus, he was going to be learning about how images create meaning, how thinkers responded to photography, and what the world meant in a photograph. Surprisingly, that didn’t sound boring at all to Harry, and he was going to have to thank Liam for his choice in lecture classes. And for the choice of major. Harry got to take pictures all day long, and when he was in lectures he could work on the case. It’s not like he had to try too hard, or get good grades. They weren’t going to be on the case too long (hopefully), so all he had to do was work on bullshitting his way through essays, and take some pictures before returning home.

****

Louis had only been in Superdry for ten minutes and he already hated his life. Not that he wasn’t a generally negative person when it came to working undercover, but still. Working in retail was pushing it to the extreme. Harry was lucky to be going back to Uni.

It had started with the looks from the female employees Louis had gotten when he entered the store. he was used to getting the attention, but most everyone home knew he was gay, or could tell he was from the way he carried himself and dressed. But these girls must have just been completely oblivious, because they giggled (fucking giggled) as Louis walked into the store, pushing his hair out of his face with a pleasant smile.

Then it was the look that he had gotten from the only other gay male who worked in the store. He was literally undressing him with his eyes, like Louis was a piece of meat or something. Louis always liked to think he carried himself in a way that said “Happily taken by the man of my dreams.” But maybe he didn’t make it as obvious as he thought. Everyone at the office could read the subtext, even though it wasn’t something they had openly admitted.

Then it was the absolutely massive packet of paperwork that he had to fill out as Adam Robinson, an identity that he still wasn’t completely invested in. And he had absolutely no bloody fucking idea what a social security number was, not his, at least. And he had conveniently left the card with it in the flat, so he had to text Liam (which was horrible and extremely unprofessional because he should have known his American Social Security number) to find out what it was.

For a professional spy, he really was shit at this whole paper work thing. But that’s what he had Harry for.

After the massive stack of paperwork (which he was sure he hadn’t filled out properly, anyway) there was also a large stack of training material, a code of conduct, a history of the company book, a hazing pamphlet, and an employee benefits flyer that he had to read through. And his boss was making him a name tag (of all the bloody fucking things, a _name tag_ ). Last time he had worn one of those was when he had started training for Stealth, and that had been on of the stickers that said “hello, my name is” on it. God, how embarrassing.

Hopefully this wasn’t as tacky, and hopefully he was allowed to dress however he wanted. If not, he was probably just going to give up right then and find another job. No matter how Liam would be. He didn’t bring his favorite red trousers for nothing.

“Done reading already?” A new coworker of his, Liza, asked batting her eyelashes at him. Another thing that assure him this job was going to be a winner was that every single female employee had hit on him, or had shown some sort of interest. He didn’t understand. He knew he was good looking, but he was gay so... (really. How could they not have any idea he was gay? Harry had practically torn him apart in the shower that morning, so naturally he was waddling. You’d think that would give them a clue.)

Louis shrugged, glancing around the store front to catalogue all of the places he could possibly hide to get out of doing actual work while he was there.

“I’m a fast reader.” he said.

“Alex, is it?”

“Adam, actually.” Louis said, already annoyed by her. She giggled.

Giggled. The woman fucking _giggled_. And Louis found that absolutely disgusting. Except when Harry did it, but that was beside the point.

“Are you from France?”

Was she fucking joking? Was he being punk’d?

“Where’s Ashton?” He joked. Liza just stared at him, confused.

“I don’t follow.”

He shook his head. “I’m from Bradford.”

“Where?”

It took all of his self control not to face palm.

“England.”

“Silly me. Your accent sounds French.” She giggled again. “Let’s take you on a tour and start your training!”

Louis nodded and Liza came out from behind the counter, grabbing onto his wrist to pull him along.

“I can walk, thanks.” Louis said, pulling his hand away. Liza pouted, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets awkwardly. “And I’m taken.... I have a boyfriend, so...”

She tilted her head to the side.

“You don’t look camp enough to be gay.” She said with a shrug. Then she turned and led him through the clothes racks to a door.

_If she wants camp, I’ll fucking show her camp._ Louis said to himself as she stopped.

“Back here is our stockroom.” She said, punching a code into a keypad. “It’s where we receive everything and put our boxes of returns and back stock. The code to get in is 3782. It’s our store number. It’s also the code to the break room.”

“3782.” Louis repeated. “Got it.”

She led him into the stockroom, and all Louis could see were boxes from floor to ceiling.

“You won’t really have to worry about too much back here.” Liza said. “But I’ll show you around anyway. This is our returns wall.” she said, pointing to a section of shelving that didn’t have any boxes on them, just clothes. “And over there is our ‘new merch’ wall. All of our new stock goes there. And the remaining shelves are all back stock. That’s where the clothes not being merchandised on the sales floor go."

Next, she led him to a table with a pile of shirts on it.

“This is where your training is going to start. This is our folding station.”

Louis looked at her curiously.

“You’re going to learn to properly fold a shirt today, Adam.”

“You’re joking.”


	6. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me some trouble, and I still am not happy with it. I hope you like it, though!

Five.

****

“Can we watch more of that interview now?” Louis asked, leaning across the desk in Harry’s room while Harry plugged in another wire to his computer tower. He looked over at Louis and smiled, pecking him on the lips gently. “I want to find out who this Belle character is. And I want pizza. We always have pizza when we watch interviews.”

“Louis.” Harry said. “It’s nine in the morning on a Saturday. I don’t think there’s going to be any pizza shops open this early, love.”

“Breakfast pizza, curly!”

“Since when have you liked breakfast pizza?”

“Since it’s breakfast time and I want pizza!”

Harry sighed. “You’re an idiot.” He said, moving out from under the desk where the computer tower was. he had been connecting wires for the past hour. He hadn’t had any time to set up his room during the week, so he took advantage of waking up early to put his space together.

“But I’m your idiot.” Louis said with a quirky smile.

“I dunno why.” Harry muttered, walking to the corner and pressing play on his iPod dock. The XX Started to play quietly as he crossed the room and ran a hand through his hair before ducking back under the desk. “And why do you love pizza so much, Mr. Organic?”

“Because everyone, everyone, loves pizza, Curly. Literally Everyone.”

“You’re generalizing and entire species.” Harry said, starting to connect more cables that Louis couldn’t even begin to understand the use of from the tower to the monitor and wall.

“It’s a fact of life, though!” Louis said, finally deciding to just lay across the desk and stare at Harry’s mop of curls. “In America alone, two hundred fifty two million pounds of pepperoni pizza are consumed per year. That’s just pepperoni, and just America. Imagine the rest of the world!”

“Are we really having this conversation right now?” Harry asked, moving back out from under the desk.

“You asked me about it! And accused me of generalizing!”

“You aren’t going to stop until I buy you pizza, are you?”

“Probably not.”

“Fine.” Harry said with a sigh. “I’ll call and see if anywhere is open. Then can I finish my computers please?”

****

Louis got his way (like always) and Harry finished his computers (after an hour of Louis pretending that Harry was four just so he could cut up Harry’s pizza and play “here comes the penis." Yeah. That’s what Louis called that game. He took something innocent and made it perverted, but honestly, what else was new?) as they ate their way through two boxes of breakfast pizza (one with bacon for Louis and the other with sausage for Harry).

“This is going to go straight to my ass.” Louis said, taking a bite of his last piece of pizza, chasing it down with a gulp of pepsi. “And my ass is already huge. You know Liam told me I should get it insured?”

“You’ve got to protect the goods.” Harry said with a shrug. “And your ass is totally fuckable.” he added as a smirk crossed his face, pressing play on the DVD player.

“Cheeky.” Louis said with a grin, taking another bite.

“Confident.” Harry said, rolling his eyes. They had this conversation all the time, and while it was annoying, he fucking loved it. This was the type of thing that their relationship was built on. The ability to be best friends first, and sling banter back and forth like it was nothing.

“Arrogant.”

“Liar.”

“Truther.”

“Still not a word!”

“You’re in denial.” Louis said with a shrug, closing the now empty box and throwing it onto the floor. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to finish the Grimshaw tape, and then we’ll watch a couple others.” Harry said.

“Sounds good to me.” Louis said as Harry settled down onto the couch next to him. “I’ll go get the yarn so I can be crafty with the wall!”

“You’re an idiot.” Harry said with a fond smile.

“You’ve said that a lot this morning.” Louis said, returning the smile.

“Only because it’s true.”

Louis shook his head and ran into Harry’s computer room, returning with a ball of red yarn and  large map of New York City they had bought the previous day rolled up under his arm.

“We don’t have anything to mark yet, Boobear.”

“I bet we will at the end of the tapes.” Louis said, dropping the yarn on the ground and pinning the map onto the wall.

“Your bum is looking extra fuckable in those joggers.” Harry said with a smirk, watching the way Louis shirt stretched across his shoulders and lifted just enough to his lower back.

“Pay attention to the tapes, not my bum.” Louis said with an eye roll that Harry couldn’t see.

“That’s proving rather difficult.”

Louis sat down on the floor.

“Now pay attention, green eyes.”

“This is stuff I’ve already seen, though. I’m just waiting for the parts about Belle to start up again. I think that’s who we’re going to have to find.”

“That would make sense.”

“Especially with the way his body language changes when he talks about her. She’s important. She has to be.”

“Can you give us a description of her?” The interviewer said. That snapped Harry’s attention from Louis’ backside to the television.

“She, uh.” Grimshaw said, his eyes darting back and forth from the camera to where the interviewer was presumably standing. “Brown hair... long, long brown hair. Beautiful face. Beautiful body. And she was wearing red. Always red. She was... Always with a few others... God, please don’t tell my wife. It’ll kill her.”

“The only one who will be telling your wife anything is you, Mr. Grimshaw.” the interviewer said as Louis settled onto the couch next to Harry. “Now. How did you meet this ‘Belle’?”

Harry was back to hanging on the end of every word, and Louis was watching him with a small smile on his face. He loved this side of Harry more than anything. When he got so deep into his work that nothing in the world could pull him out. When he had a focused look on his face and his eyes were locked onto a packet of information or an interview. It’s amazing that his Harry and Stealth Harry are the same person, sometimes.

“What if when we find her -- ”

“SHH!” Harry said, waving a hand in front of his face to shut him up. “Sorry babe. This is just really really important.”

Louis sighed and began to card his hands through Harry’s hair.

“The lads and I... we went out for a few drinks after a long session at the conference... This bar. A gentlemen’s club... I don’t remember it.”

“We found a business card to a bar on ninth avenue for a bar. Is that the place, Mr. Grimshaw?”

“That’s the one... she was outside and I was drunk. Wanted a good night, and the wife wasn’t around. She reminded me of my wife... so I paid her. Good money, too. And I brought her back to my hotel. The next morning, she was gone and I couldn’t find my notebook anywhere. I figured that I just left it in the conference room the day before, but when it wasn’t there I panicked and didn’t say anything, claiming to have left it in my room. I couldn’t find Belle again after that.”

“Do you remember any distinct marks on her body? Tattoos, birthmarks, et cetera?”

“She had a C tattoo under her right ear.”

“Were there any other prostitutes that weekend? Or at all?”

Grimshaw nodded.

“Sick bastard.” Louis muttered. “The man is married for forty years, goes on a business trip, and cheats on his wife with more than one prostitute? That’s lower than low, that is.”

“How many others?” The interviewer asked.

“Two.” Grimshaw whispered.

“Any distinct marks?”

“They both had C’s under their ears too.”

“No fucking way.” Harry said as the dots began to connect in his head. “No bloody fucking way.”

Louis looked up from where he had been studying a spot of ink on the palm of his hand. It was in the shape of a raindrop, and he wasn’t sure when it had gotten there. Shows how much attention span he had.

“What?”

“Ambach is running a prostitution ring.” Harry muttered, scribbling that thought into his notebook and underlining it twice before drawing stars next to it.

“Their names?” The interviewer asked.

“Kaiti and Angie.”

“How do you figure?” Louis asked as Harry wrote the two names down.

“It’s a simple game of connect the dots.” Harry said. “He’s a German Ambassador, which means he’s got a load on Germany, obviously. He sleeps with this prostitute with a C under her ear -- I’ll bet anything that stands for Caelyn -- and when he wakes up the next morning his notebook, with all of his notes from the conference in it is gone. There was only one other person in the room with him all night. Then he gets accused of sharing German government secrets to Caelyn Ambach, who he has never met, seen or heard of until the morning he gets accused... We’ll have to watch a couple more interviews to be sure, but I’m almost positive that’s what’s going on.”

“You’re a genius.” Louis said, planting a kiss onto Harry’s lips as the next interview started. “That all makes perfect sense. And I can be crafty!”

Harry laughed and shook his head, and Louis ran back to his computer room to grab a stack of construction paper.

“I’ve got the gayest of all the gays.” he muttered, smiling.

****

It was one in the morning before they finally called it a night. And in that time, they had finished watching all of the interviews and their wall had gone from blank to nearly full.

After Grimshaw’s interview, they had watched five more with five officials.

There was Steven James, the American Congressman. There was Trevor Little, a parliament member. Jacob Carter, a British Intelligence worker who Louis thought was quite something. (He may or may not have yelled ‘Take me now!’ at the screen followed by a ‘Fuck he’s fit!’ Harry silenced him with a jealous glare.) Then there was Gregory Potter, another congressman, and Jeremy Walker, another Intelligence Operative.

They were all government officials in one of two major countries in the UN and NATO. They all had been in New York City the same weekend for the same conference. They had all slept with more than one woman with a C tattooed under their right ear (“These girls get around!” “They’re prostitutes, Lou. They don’t really have a choice.”). They had all woken up with some form of their work missing. And they all had Belle in common.

“So.” Louis said, looking over his work. “I think it’s time we go out and start taking pictures of these places. And looking for Helena, Kaiti, Belle, Angie and Olivia. Faces to go with the names and all that.”

“Our best bet will be to start with the bars and hotels. Take pictures of them when we can. I have a feeling this is going to have to be done on the weekends.” Harry said. “These classes I’m taking aren’t going to be a walk in the park. I thought I’d be able to bullshit through the, but I don’t think I can anymore.”

“We’ll just have to balance everything out. I have to work too. Fucking Liam.”

“Liam?”

“Gives us all this shit to do all at once. Bet he wouldn’t give Zayn all of this responsibility. I’m telling you, they’re fucking. They’re bent. Both of them. For each other.”

“He wouldn’t have given us all of this if he didn’t think we could handle it. It might not be the easiest thing in the world, but... We can do it, Boobear. We can.”

Louis nodded and pulled Harry up off the couch before he could protest, and dragged him into their bedroom. They collapsed under the blankets with a relieved sigh, and Louis curled up into Harry’s side.

“Speaking of school.” Harry mumbled, his eyes closed. “For my Magazine as a Visual Piazza course, we have to be split into small groups, and we have to make a sixty page fashion magazine.”

“That sounds like fun.” Louis said, twisting a lock of Harry’s curls around his finger.

“We get our groups Tuesday.” Harry said, his voice growing thicker and sleepier with every word. “Want to model for us when the time comes?”

“Sure, Curly.” Louis said with a small smile, kissing Harry softly. “Now, sleep.”


	7. Six

Tuesday was group assignment day and if there was one thing that Harry hated more than when Louis had a bad hair day (not that he ever thought Louis looked bad, it just sucked to hear him complain for sixteen hours) it was group work. It was probably the worst thing he had ever gone through, ever. And he had had to go through four different levels of calculus at Uni.

He hated that he didn’t know anyone when it seemed like every person in class had already had or had made a friend within the two classes that had passed. But he credited that to his slight social anxiety. He didn’t adjust well to being in a new place, and he was mostly quiet. So no one really noticed him.

But he had caught a lot of the girls staring at him on the first day, so it could work out. Unless he got stuck in a group with that Taylor girl. She was tall, and blonde, and she acted like the stereotype. She was giggly and loud and he had overheard a conversation she had about cats that was mostly one sided. When he got into a discussion, he wanted a fair say and he knew that if he was in a group with her he would be outshone by her. He hated that. He hated that in everyone except for Louis. Not that he had to worry about it, because Louis was intelligent in a different way.

Where Harry was smart in computers, Louis was smart in tactics and strategy. When Harry was smart in maths and sciences, Louis was smart in English and History. And sometimes Harry wasn’t intelligent when it came to commonsensical things (strange, considering Louis liked to hide in supermarkets for shits and giggles). He always preferred to just jump into common things, full board, and in deep (except when he was at work. Work was something he took as seriously as he possibly could, while breaking it up with stupid thoughts)... and Louis exercised caution.  Always wanted to weigh their options and the pros and cons in something. Like when Harry had wanted to get a cat. He was ready to go out and just do it. But Louis had stopped him and made him see the logic behind not having one, at least until they retired. They had spent two days discussing it, but in the end Louis had won (as he often did, but you’d never hear Harry say so).

They were a perfect balance, and that’s what made them such a good team. With all the flaws Harry had, Louis matched with skill and vice versa. And Louis was the best company Harry could ask for. He wouldn’t spend everyday with anyone else.

The thought made Harry smile, until a familiar pink purse dropped onto the desk next to him and blonde curls filled his vision. He slammed his laptop shut, apologizing to Steve Jobs under his breath for treating the MacBook so poorly. But in his defense, the desktop had a picture of he and Louis kissing with the Paris skyline behind them, and he and Louis had decided that “being boyfriends” on this case was too much of a risk. It was too personal, so it had to remain behind closed doors.

He squeezed his eyes closed, and slowly opened them, hoping to God that someone in the class had the same bag and blonde hair as Taylor did. But when her face came into focus he let out a groan. Fate hated him. He swore she did.

“Hi!” she said. He could see that she was trying extremely hard to keep calm, and she was doing a horrible fucking job.

“Hello..?” he said, folding his arms over the computer (only to hide the embarrassing band stickers he had on the metal casing). When he was in the back he didn’t have to be worried about hiding the stickers. He didn’t really care what the professor thought and he was the only one that saw them.

She giggled as another girl, a brunette this time, sat down on his other side. He thought her name was Kayla? The final addition was a guy who he recognized as Pat.. at least he thought so.

“Introductions?” The guy said. The two girls nodded. “I’m Pat... I’m from Fairport, New York, and a photography major, obviously.”

“Kayla.” the girl Harry knew as Kayla said. He let out a soft breath of relief. He was generally good at matching faces to names. “Liverpool, New York. Also a photography major.”

“I’m Taylor.” Taylor said with a ditzy smile towards Harry. “I’m from Pennsylvania. And I’m a photography major too.”

“I’m Kayden” Harry said, clearing his throat. “I’m a grad student... photography major and--”

“I bet you’re from Spain!” Taylor said with a proud smile.

His head dropped to the desk in front of him and the other two laughed.

It was too fucking early for this shit.

****

There were days when Louis just missed his Harry. And today was one of those days.

He’d woken up at eight that morning to Harry singing some Coldplay song in the shower, and the he had dozed off, only to be reawakened by a pair of soft lips on his own to say goodbye, and to tell him that there was a chocolate croissant on the counter waiting for him. Louis had wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck and tried to make him stay, but Harry had just shook his head with a smile, kissing him one more time as he left.

Then Harry was gone and Louis was left alone to do nothing.

And doing nothing was the the worst thing that Louis could do. Because doing nothing turned into wasting time on the internet, or watching too much shit telly like Keeping Up with the Kardashians or Real Housewives of whatever place that happened to be on. And he swore reality TV was the reason the world sucked, so when he he got engrossed in it, he felt like a hypocrite.

So he did what any of your average spies living outside of New York City working on a case would do.

He dressed as camp as he could (resulting in brown trousers, a grey patterned jumper, a cream colored scarf, and sunglasses. This was only to prove that he was camp enough to be gay to his boss, honestly. And to try to send a message to any other people trying to get with him.) and he called a cab, grabbing Harry’s DSLR on the way out. He had two hours before he and Harry had to meet for lunch, and he wanted to explore (and maybe get some work done on the case).

His first stop would be to that club on ninth. He needed to check out the neighborhood during the day time to familiarize himself with it before he and Harry went out at night.

****

“We should do, like, a spring theme!” Taylor said with a giggle, not so subtly leaning against  Harry’s shoulder. He tugged on his hair and groaned. All he wanted to do was scream takentakentakentakentaken at the top of his lungs.

“It’s September.” Kayla said, shaking her head. “No fashion magazine is going to have a spring fashion line in a fall issue. It’ll be a winter line, if anything. And if we do spring clothes that would just make us look stupid so thats a no.”

Harry sighed, how the fuck was he going to be able to put all of his focus onto the case if he had to do all this school shit too?

“My flatmate told me he would model for us.” He found himself saying. “You guys will love him, I think. He’s really cool.”

“I bet he’s really ugly.” Taylor whispered to Kayla. “No one can compare to Harry.”

Harry bit his lip to not say anything. He didn’t like either of the girls all that much, anymore.

****

At one o’clock, Louis was sitting on the steps outside of Tisch, his bag on his lap, and Harry’s camera case by his side. He bounced his knee up and down nervously, and checked his phone every thirty seconds until the doors opened and he heard a call of “Adam!” coming from behind him.

He turned to see Harry standing with a bright smile (showing off those god forsaken dimples) and wide eyes, looking like a god in his white t-shirt and black jeans. Two girls walked on either side of him, and a guy followed close behind. Their jaws dropped when Harry left them to go to Louis side.

“Hey, mate.” He said, still smiling. The girls approached them and Louis took his sunglasses off. His scarf had been stuffed away in his bag earlier in the day.

“Who’s this, Kayden?” Pat asked, his eyes travelling over Louis. He wasn’t as easy to read as the others. The girls were decidedly straight, but this guy... Louis couldn’t tell.

“My flatmate, Adam.” Harry said. “Adam, this is Pat, Taylor and Kayla.” he added, pointing to each of them in turn. “If you guys don’t mind, he’s meeting me for lunch... so, I’ll see you on Tuesday?”

Harry’s expression had shifted to smug and Louis smirked.

“Ready?” Harry said, turning to him. Louis snapped to attention with a nod.

“Of course. I’m starving.”

Harry smiled and led him away, not sparing a glance at the others. “Those girls were talking about how ugly they thought you were going to be in class earlier today. Jokes on them. You’re hotter than the sun.”

“That was really stupid.” Louis mumbled, folding his arms over his stomach. “Worse than your tea jokes.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Harry said. “And you can’t listen to everything that people say about you. Just listen to me.”

“That’s tough, since I never listen to you. Ever.”

“Valid point.”

“That one girl looked like she wanted you quite badly.” he said quietly, trying to not let his voice falter. When they had first met each other, Harry had told him that he was bisexual with a preference for males. And whenever Louis had seen another girl look twice at Harry, he would think. “This is it. I’m losing him.”

“I wouldn’t look twice at her. She’s dumb as fuck. Thought I was from Spain. And why would I look twice at her when I have you, Lou?”

“I’m so pissed I can’t kiss you right now.”

“I know, but later tonight we’ll have time for kissing, babe.”

Louis sighed, opening the door of their favorite cafe and holding it open for Harry. Their usual table by the window was free, and their favorite waitress, Kelsey, greeted them with a smile and a friendly wave. They had become regulars at the cafe (called Spice “Because a lot of our food is spicy and if it isn’t, it’s sure to leave you surprised.” Kelsey had said.) since they been in  the City. It was nice there, quiet. And they always played good music, so their voices (always hushed) couldn’t be overheard. Plus it was five minutes away from Tisch, giving Harry a full thirty minutes to eat with him, and the food was delicious.

“So what have you been up to today, Boo?” Harry said, pulling his computer out of his bag. Seemed like he could never do anything without it these days.

“I went down to that club on ninth.” Louis said as Kelsey brought their usual drink orders over to them.

“The club?”

Louis nodded. “Not a nice place.”

“Did you bring my camera?”

“Of course.”

“Can I see the pictures you took?”

Louis nodded and passed the camera across the table, watching as Harry unzipped the case. He powered the camera on, and took a sip of his soft drink, choking on it as the first picture came up.

“Really, Louis?” Harry said, turning the camera towards Louis. There was a picture of Louis making a duck face and pointing at the camera. He shrunk back, sheepish.

“I got bored on the tube.” He said, shyly.

“Well I’m keeping this one.” Harry said with a grin. “And this one... and this one... this one is getting framed.... poster sized... this one...”

Kelsey returned with their sandwiches a few minutes later, and Louis began to eat his immediately while Harry ate with one hand, using the other to go through pictures.

“This is the place?” Harry asked. Louis nodded. “You weren’t lying when you said it was in a sketchy neighborhood.”


	8. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry that it took this long to get an update. I was finishing up my finals for college, working on a punk!louis story, and then the week after I got out of school I had surgery so I've been recovering from that (But Tricia, you had a week to do nothing but write! WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG?! BECAUSE I WAS IN PAIN.) but anyway. It won't happen again.

And that’s when Harry started taking pictures of every single person he saw that could even slightly match the description of Eleanor. In total, he probably had over three hundred pictures of brunette girls in red that he had to develop. But it was a necessary evil. Especially since he was taking them on a camera with actual film. But it would give him good practice in a dark room. He’d never actually used one because he had a DSLR and those were all digital, but since being in New York, he had bought two other cameras that were required for classes he was taking. And him using the dark room to develop the pictures of the girls could also be used as part of an assignment he had to work on for his lighting class. So it was like killing two birds with one stone and it worked.

Today he was in Central Park, sitting on a bench, pretending to take pictures of the trees. Louis was across the path, buying Harry a coffee, and trying to make the man at the cart give him a cup of hot water by the looks of things. He was really something else, his Louis. Offering to buy a cup of hot water from an Indian man, selling coffee off a cart. Only he would. Only him.

Harry smiled fondly as another brunette walked by, and Louis approached the bench as Harry snapped a picture of her. Louis was smiling triumphantly, holding two cups in hand. He gave Harry his cup of black coffee, and sat next to him on the bench, tucking his legs up underneath him and rested his head on Harry’s shoulder.

“Have you gotten anyone yet?” Louis asked, ripping open a tea bag and setting it into the hot water.

“A few.” Harry replied with a shrug. “I don’t think any of them are who we’re looking for, though. None of them have the tattoo under their ear, and none of them look like what i’m picturing her too. But maybe I just have a different mental image of what prostitutes are supposed to look like?”

“Probably.” Louis said with a snort. “Especially since the only prostitute you’ve ever seen was Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.”

“They’re fairly realistic!” Harry protested.

“How would you know?! You’ve never seen a prostitute.”

“Girls in strip clubs... prostitutes. Basically the same, yeah?”

“No. It’s completely different.” Louis said, but then his brow furrowed. “When the fuck have you ever been in a strip club?”

“Back when my mate, Will, was trying to convince me that I was straight.” Harry replied with a shrug. “Ended up pulling a cross dresser. Will couldn’t tell the difference, he was so hammered. Fucked the guy into the mattress.”

“I thought I taught you everything you know?” Louis said, more like a question than a statement. Harry knew by his tone that he would be in deep shit if he didn’t think of a cover quickly.

“Was a virgin, Lou.” Harry said with a shrug. “Was shit. Didn’t even open him up properly. Besides, you’re the only one who gets to put his cock in my arse.”

“So vulgar.” Louis said with a shake of his head. “Better stay that way, Styles.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that next time you top, love.”

 

“Don’t wanna go.” Louis groaned into a pillow the next morning when Harry woke him with a mug of tea and a plate of egg on toast. He had been called in to work an eight to five instead of a five to nine and he wanted to explode. It wasn’t so much the job he hated (in fact, after he finished his training he actually began to enjoy it. He had even picked up on little ways to keep he and Harry’s clothes more organized) it was more the people he worked with, thinking him to be straight, when he was trying very hard to prove them wrong. The only way that would be possible was for Harry to show up and set them straight (ha.).

“You’ve got to go, Boo.” Harry said, dropping a kiss to the back of Louis’ neck gently. Louis shook his head again.

“No. Don’t wanna.” He repeated. He knew he was acting like a child, but damned if he cared.

“Are the people you work with till bothering you?” Harry asked, stroking his fingertips down Louis’ back. Louis shuddered, and then nodded. “How about I join you on your lunch break, then? Let them know you’re mine.”

“Could you, Hazza?” Louis said as Harry’s hands started to slide up and down his back. He moaned softly. It felt better than it should have this early in the morning. He turned and was met with dimples and a soft kiss.

“Of course I will. Now, come on. Or you’ll be late.”

At one o’clock, Louis found himself looking at the clock hanging on the wall every few seconds until one fifteen. He had a forty five minute lunch break, and that was just what he needed after being repeatedly hit on for the entire morning. He even dressed more camp than usual. So when the door went off and Louis saw his lanky chocolate curl covered hero standing there, it was all he could do not to sprint to him and jump in his arms.

Harry spotted him and was at his side immediately, watching as he folded a stack of shirts. He had never been to Louis’ work before and if he was honest, Harry looked like he felt a bit out of place standing amongst the clothes.

“You’re out early.” Louis said with a smile.

Harry shrugged. “Professor had a golf tournament in Westchester he had to get to or summat. Are you ready to go?”

“Let me clock out.” Louis said with a smile before he moved through the stacks of clothes and behind the counter, clocking out on the computer. Harry had followed him, sort of like a puppy, and when Louis was sure everyone was watching them, he pressed a kiss to Harry’s lips. The younger man instantly relaxed and Louis smiled when he felt him start to kiss back. They only pulled apart when Louis heard a throat clear and Louis saw his boss, Lou, standing in front of them.

“I clocked out for lunch.” Louis said with a smile. My boyfriend is coming with me, so he met me here.”

“Good to meet you.” Harry said quietly. “I’m Kayden.”

“Lou.” She said with a smile. “I’m glad you could come by. Maybe you’ll be able to get all the others to leave Adam alone.”

“That was the plan.” Harry said with a smile, watching as all the girls in the store’s jaws drop. “Ready to go, babe?”

“Ready when you are.”

 

“You’re going to do what?” Louis asked after having choked down a sip of water. Harry smirked.

“You heard me.” He said. “Not like you haven’t heard me say worse, more dangerous things before.”

“But this... This could be really bad.” Louis said. “Hacking a computer is one thing. but breaking into a building after hours... that’s completely different.”

“I help you all the time. How difficult can it be?”

 

So that’s how Harry found himself hacking into Tisch School’s security system that evening, checking to see how hard it would be to get from point A (the front door) to point B (the dark room on the third floor) without being caught.He was a professionally trained spy with a degree in computer science and computer programming, so he should have it in the bag. And as long as he didn’t take anything from the security system, the fact that he was wandering around their cameras wouldn’t be acknowledged. That was something that had always set Harry’s nerves on edge. But when he learned that snooping wasn’t bad, stealing was, he had become a lot more relaxed about it, which was good.

But he was still keeping his guard up as he tested a door, only to find that it was unlocked. Getting around the building wouldn’t be hard, but getting into the darkroom without being caught was going to be a challenge.

But he felt like a proper spy as he snuck around the corners. He only ever got to watch Louis do this, but now that Harry got a chance to do it himself, he understood why he liked it so much. it was like a thrill. An adrenaline rush bigger than the one he got from watching Louis behind a computer screen. And by the time he flipped the switch on in the dark room, his heart was beating really quickly. He almost got caught twice while picking the lock to the room.

He put his jacket on a hook and set his camera down, pulling the film out of his camera so he could pull the film and put it on a reel before dipping it in chemicals. It didn’t take long for him to finish the development process, and he was pulling prints out of a chemical bath and pinning them up to dry.

It took more time to make the prints than to develop the film, and each time one came out of the chemicals, he would look at it and shake his head. None of them looked like what he was picturing. At least until he pulled the last picture.

“Oh my god.” he said to the empty dark room. “It’s her.”


End file.
